[Q] Useless files in DATA folder? - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello everyone!
One of the main reasons i root my phone is to be able to delete useless files and folders in root's DATA folder.
Files and folders like LOGS, DALVIK CACHE (when i have uninstalled many applications and only with a specific "method" described in third post), ANR and TOMBSTONES can be deleted to save some storage space.
Do YOU know any other files or folders that are useless and can be safely deleted?

Do NOT delete Dalvik-Cache and Tomestones.
I don't have logs so that is safe to delete that and you can delete the files inside the ANR folder but not the whole thing.
If you want to remove unused Dalvik cache then get Titanium Backup and the key.
If you see .yuv files in the data folder then that is useless since that it created by the HDR mode by the camera by taking pictures with that mode.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

andyabc said:
Do NOT delete Dalvik-Cache and Tomestones.
I don't have logs so that is safe to delete that and you can delete the files inside the ANR folder but not the whole thing.
If you want to remove unused Dalvik cache then get Titanium Backup and the key.
If you see .yuv files in the data folder then that is useless since that it created by the HDR mode by the camera by taking pictures with that mode.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about the dalvik files, i didnt make myself clear.
I only delete those when i have uninstalled many applications
What i do then is turn off the phone, turn it back on, delete all the dalvik files and quickly reboot.
Gonna edit the first post.
:silly:

quendil said:
Sorry about the dalvik files, i didnt make myself clear.
I only delete those when i have uninstalled many applications
What i do then is turn off the phone, turn it back on, delete all the dalvik files and quickly reboot.
Gonna edit the first post.
:silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I do to my old phone.
Yes it is safe then.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

Related

[Trick!] Get more free Phone Memory & Speed up your Device!!!

Requirements :
Xperia Arc [Rooted]*
Root Explorer
How :
First... Update all your standard programs in your phone, from Market [Example : Gmail, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Maps, Adobe Flash Player, Data Monitor & ...]
Download your important programs from Market [Example for me : Root Explorer, Adobe Reader, Bluetooth File Explorer, Advanced Task Killer, Facebook Messenger & ...]
Open "Root Explorer"
Go to "/data/app" folder.
Press Menu key, then press "Multi-select" Button.
Select all file (Programs).
Press "Copy" Button.
Now, Go to "/system/app" folder.
Press "Paste" Button.
For Now, delete old programs, if you new programs is paste this folder. [Example : COPY "com.google.android.apps.maps.apk" from "/data/app" to "/system/app". So DELETE "google maps.apk" (old file)]
Sync or Backup your personal data, if you have.
Factory Reset Device from Phone, with Erase Memory Card.
Finish!
Now you can see over 200-250 MB Free storage in Phone Memory! While your application is installed in internal memory!!!
* I think this trick is working for other Android Device (Rooted!).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1089470
I made a mistake doing this, I moved com.android.vending to a wrong place.
Can anybody tell me where it should be ?
Result ; no more Market ...
Cheers
ChefChaudart said:
I made a mistake doing this, I moved com.android.vending to a wrong place.
Can anybody tell me where it should be ?
Result ; no more Market ...
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
updated market (com.android.vending.apk for your case) should be inside /data/app
Sweet trick, as long as I don't update any apps in the future
If you update an app isn't just a case of moving it from data/app to system/app?
Does the factory reset do that much?
stu1978 said:
If you update an app isn't just a case of moving it from data/app to system/app?
Does the factory reset do that much?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, isn't...
Yes... If you do factory reset, all your app (changed app) is updated...
What does 'convert to system app' do in Titanium Backup?
Any advantage/space saving?
Sent from my Arc via subspace beacon.
or you can just use app2sd
gonemad02 said:
or you can just use app2sd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you like to slow your phone down..
madone via Tapatalk (Xperia Arc)
Lord Takyon said:
What does 'convert to system app' do in Titanium Backup?
Any advantage/space saving?
Sent from my Arc via subspace beacon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tired that many times without success. I tired to convert the FB to a normal application ending up TB running for about 8 hours and my battery dead. After I booted up the phone, FB is neither here nor there and ended up restoring from backup!
Not sure it's only happening to me though .
stu1978 said:
If you update an app isn't just a case of moving it from data/app to system/app?
Does the factory reset do that much?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just tried to move one app and it is working fine without factory reset.
Thanks allot for this excellent tip to save some space
I copied data from /data/app to /system/app, then uninstalled the app and rebooted device. The app is now a system app, not sure if it will work for all kinds of apps, will continue to move more of my apps to the /system/app folder.
One disadvantage could be that upgrading firmware also requires that all the systemized apps are reinstalled.
Im using the a2sd script + titanium backup's ability to freeze a background app/process then unfreeze them\it when I need it
very useful indeed

BlurCamera deleted by mistake

My phone's unlocked/rooted.
Stupidly, to free up some space in Dropbox, I deleted some Titanium Backups and at some point, while moving files around, I deleted BlurCamera.apk while in Titanium Backup - basically unistalled it instead of freezing it... and guess what, no backup to restore from.
I'm stock and use other apps for video recording / picture taking but would like to revert back. I've tried a few different scenarios and after rebooting each time - no luck.
In layman's terms, what else can I do try. I've already downloaded the stock .apk and .odex files but so far, nada.
Any help, greatly appreciated.
I have attached it for you to this post. Good Luck!
Thank you! besides changing the permissions, is there anything else that I should do? Keep in mind I'm not replacing the application because I inadvertently deleted it through titanium backup instead of freezing it
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
hkjr said:
Thank you! besides changing the permissions, is there anything else that I should do? Keep in mind I'm not replacing the application because I inadvertently deleted it through titanium backup instead of freezing it
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just copy them to /system/app then change the permissions same as the rest of the .apks in the same folder. As a good measure delete /data/dalvik-cache folder's content and shut down the phone. Then go to Android Recovery and wipe the cache and then restart the system. Next boot would take much longer, be patient pls.
Good Luck!

[Q] Clearing excess of junk files for updates

I'm in need of updating certain apps to my phone but can't because of insufficient storage. How can I and what can I delete to create this much needed space without deleting my important things?
Try Clean Master.
You should post your questions in Q&A section btw.
marioc89 said:
I'm in need of updating certain apps to my phone but can't because of insufficient storage. How can I and what can I delete to create this much needed space without deleting my important things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clear Cache files, Temporary files .
go to
/sdcard/DCIM
On DCIM turn on hidden items.
Now delete .tumbnails its more than 1GB file & its no uses.
Do you mean go to settings and the storage and click on cache and empty?
marioc89 said:
Do you mean go to settings and the storage and click on cache and empty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, download ES FILE MANAGER from playstore and turn on hidden items the delete .tumbnails lacated at DCIM folder .
SCREEN SHOTS
But that's the thing. I can't download anything else because of insufficient storage. That's what I'm trying to clear up so I can download my updates at least.
OK. I downloaded it. Thought I wasn't going to be able to though. But, those thumbnails are pics that I want. Will I erase those too? What exactly is a thumbnail or what am I really erasing?
marioc89 said:
OK. I downloaded it. Thought I wasn't going to be able to though. But, those thumbnails are pics that I want. Will I erase those too? What exactly is a thumbnail or what am I really erasing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thumbnail are not original image file they are made when you open gallery & other image explore the small image (thumbnails) are saved for next time open faster.
I was deleted many times , and i can't find important it.
OK.
Thanks for y'all's help thus far and I was able to download some updates for my apps. Is there anything else I can do to create more space right now without buying anything?
marioc89 said:
Thanks for y'all's help thus far and I was able to download some updates for my apps. Is there anything else I can do to create more space right now without buying anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clean cache with CCleaner or Clean Master, it will free up a few hundred MBs, you can do it regularly (twice a week or something)
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
So, instead of downloading another app to clean, can es cleaner can do it since I already have it?

User apps missing after reboot?

I updated two xposed plugins and after I restarted the phone my user apps were all gone, not recognized by the system. Their folders are still in data/app however.
All data folders have the read permission, so I don't understand what caused it. I tried wiping dalvik cache to force it but nothing.
This thread can be locked now, fixed it by deleting the folder of the broken plugin from data/app
Sent from my OnePlus 2

Removing cache from Android files

Hi
I removed an app from my phone
I connected my phone to my computer and checked if there are any left over files, and yes there are
I am trying to remove the app folder in Phone->Android->Data
It gives me this error: "cache_blablabla cannot be removed: the storage location is write protected. Remove the protection and try again"
Could I somehow get administrator permission so I can remove it?
denniserino said:
Hi
I removed an app from my phone
I connected my phone to my computer and checked if there are any left over files, and yes there are
I am trying to remove the app folder in Phone->Android->Data
It gives me this error: "cache_blablabla cannot be removed: the storage location is write protected. Remove the protection and try again"
Could I somehow get administrator permission so I can remove it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any time you add or remove apps(especially apps in the system partition), you can boot the device into stock recovery mode and select the "wipe cache partition" option, then reboot. This is necessary because left over cached data from apps that are no longer there can cause conflicts with your device functioning properly.
When the device reboots, it will rebuild the cache as it needs and everything will work like it is supposed to.
This will wipe all cached data on your device, this does not remove your personal files or anything else important, it is not the same as factory reset, it only wipes the "live" data that the app has stored/loaded in the background while the device is on. Similar to clearing your RAM space on PC, it doesn't wipe the user data or any other data from your harddrive, it just dumps what is in your RAM.
One other thing, the Android/data folder is a necessary folder, that is where it stores app data for ALL of the apps that you installed. If you look inside that folder, you will see other folders, each of these other folders is a folder for each individual app that the phone is storing data for.
What you are actually probably looking for is how to remove that data that was associated to the app that you removed. That can be deleted using your phones file manager. Just open your file manager on your android device, select your internal storage. There you will see the Android folder, open it, then you will see all the folders for the individual apps. Find the folder there that is associated to the app that you removed. When you find it you can delete it from within your file manager app.
You don't need a PC, ADB or any other apps or fancy special tricks to delete folders that are stored within the Android/data folder.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
Any time you add or remove apps(especially apps in the system partition), you can boot the device into stock recovery mode and select the "wipe cache partition" option, then reboot. This is necessary because left over cached data from apps that are no longer there can cause conflicts with your device functioning properly.
When the device reboots, it will rebuild the cache as it needs and everything will work like it is supposed to.
This will wipe all cached data on your device, this does not remove your personal files or anything else important, it is not the same as factory reset, it only wipes the "live" data that the app has stored/loaded in the background while the device is on. Similar to clearing your RAM space on PC, it doesn't wipe the user data or any other data from your harddrive, it just dumps what is in your RAM.
One other thing, the Android/data folder is a necessary folder, that is where it stores app data for ALL of the apps that you installed. If you look inside that folder, you will see other folders, each of these other folders is a folder for each individual app that the phone is storing data for.
What you are actually probably looking for is how to remove that data that was associated to the app that you removed. That can be deleted using your phones file manager. Just open your file manager on your android device, select your internal storage. There you will see the Android folder, open it, then you will see all the folders for the individual apps. Find the folder there that is associated to the app that you removed. When you find it you can delete it from within your file manager app.
You don't need a PC, ADB or any other apps or fancy special tricks to delete folders that are stored within the Android/data folder.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thank you a lot!
Can I do that without rooting my phone?
And I am doing it because there's an app that gives away something free, you can use it max. 5 times and then you have to purchase. So I thought it'd be a good idea to remove everything associated to that app what might makes it possible to give me the free stuff again, haha
Do you know if it's even possible by removing those files? And if it isn't, do you maybe know where I should be looking at?
denniserino said:
Wow, thank you a lot!
Can I do that without rooting my phone?
And I am doing it because there's an app that gives away something free, you can use it max. 5 times and then you have to purchase. So I thought it'd be a good idea to remove everything associated to that app what might makes it possible to give me the free stuff again, haha
Do you know if it's even possible by removing those files? And if it isn't, do you maybe know where I should be looking at?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is pointless for you to even try, the information that keeps track of how many times you've done it is probably stored online somewhere in some server for the developers/owners of the app.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

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